Light pollution blots out the Milky Way for one-third of humanity

People around the world are losing the night sky. According to a new atlas of light pollution detailed in the journal Science Advances on Friday, more than 80% of the people on Earth live under skies polluted by artificial light. About 99% of people in the United States and Europe live with some degree of light pollution each night, the study found."There is a cultural loss" when people can't see the night sky, Fabio Falchi, co-author of the new atlas, told Mashable in an interview. For most of human history, people have been able to look up around the world and see the clouds of the Milky Way glowing above them, but now, one-third of the world's population is unable to see our galaxy's arms stretching out in the night. "We've got whole generations of people in the United States who have never seen the Milky Way," said Chris Elvidge, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information in a statement.